Pakistan Cricket Board and the Indian Cricket Board are at loggerheads over the venue of the Asia Cup 2023 since October 2022. The Indian Cricket Board Secretary and ACC (Asian Cricket Council) President, Jay Shah, last year said that the tournament will not be held in Pakistan even after the nation won the hosting rights which led to a war of words between the two boards.
However, PCB’s new chairman Najam Sethi has now given a major update on the matter, revealing the date of the ACC meeting in the Asia Cup row while also adding Indian Cricket Board’s fresh demand.
In October, after Pakistan won the hosting rights for the tournament, there were speculations that India might travel to Pakistan for the first time in over a decade. However, Jay Shah’s statement made it clear there will be a change in the venue. The statement left PCB furious as then Chairman Ramiz Raja threatened to pull out of the ODI World Cup in 2023 scheduled to be held in India. Raja had reiterated the same in a lot of his interviews on the matter and also said that Pakistan were more hurt by the statement that their hosting rights for the 2023 Asia Cup would be taken away.
Interim chairman Najam Sethi, since the start of his tenure, has not made any remark on the matter and has rather waited for the ACC meeting.
I am not sure about our stance for now: Najam Sethi
“Finally, we have a date now to meet ACC officials. I will attend ACC’s meeting on February 4 in Bahrain. I am not sure about our stance for now; I will decide it in the meeting, keeping an eye on the situation,” Sethi said.
Sethi also gave an update on fresh demand by the Indian Cricket Board on the row, saying that they are willing to host Pakistan for the World Cup, but are not willing to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup.
“India Cricket Board wants Pakistan to travel to India, but Indian Cricket Board doesn’t want India to play in Pakistan. This is not something new for us,” said Sethi.
